I was one of sixteen class members in the first
postwar CG Aviation Machinist Mate School. The
school was at Coast Guard Air Station (CGAS) San
Diego. The station CO was CDR O. B.
MacDiarmid. Aviation Chief Machinist Mate (ACMM)
Felix P. MacNeil, a really great chief, operated the
school. Our class ran for 20 weeks, February
through May 1946.

Students attended Formal classroom sessions each
workday morning. During the afternoon we were
assigned to different maintenance activities, PBM, JRF
and J4F, and shops such as machine, spark plug,
propeller, sheet metal, etc., for on-hand
instructions.

CDR MacDiarmid also had us placed into regular duty
sections in which we stood watches and performed
routine duties along with the regular air station
personnel. CDR MacDiarmid reasoned we were there
to learn all the facets of Coast Guard Aviation, not
just to be mechanics of sorts.

While serving in the PSM section we students also
flew as student crew members. On my second PBM
flight, CDR Mac was the PPC (Patrol Plane
Commander). It was to be my job to rig the
anchor and catch the mooring buoy at the completion of
the mission.

We landed in the seadrome landing area in the center
of San Diego Harbor. As CDR Mac did his normal
high speed taxi to the CGAS mooring area and seaplane
ramp, I requested permission to open the bow hatch and
rig For mooring. CDR Mac answered back, "I'll
let you know when to rig!" I didn't think now was the
time to explain that this would be my first effort at
this task. Finally, over the intercom came the
order, "Rig for mooring..." I opened the hatch, swung
out the davit and anchor, and as I reached for the
mooring hook and line I saw the mooring buoy slide
by. I grabbed the intercom and informed
everyone, "I missed the buoy!"

"Damn it," CDR Mac came back immediately, "a SPAR
(women reserve) could have caught that buoy!"

To which I yelled back, "You son-of-a-bitch, you
didn't give me time to get rigged."

Believing at that time that my future in Coast Guard
aviation had just ended, I could almost hear each crew
member saying, "Thank God I didn't say that!"

Over the intercom CDR Mac's reply was remarkably
mild. "Morris, I'm coming around again.
Get that buoy!"

I assure you, I got the buoy on that approach.

CDR MacDiarmid never said a word to me about this
incident. I had really met one of Coast Guard
Aviation's giants.

FAR ENOUGH?

While students in the First 1946 postwar class at
Aviation Machinist Mate School, CGAS San Diego, we
were to beach a PBM-5. The Patrol Plane
Commander (PPC) was the CO, CDR 0. B.
MacDiarmid. CDR R. R. Johnson, a contemporary of
CDR Mac, was the air station XO. The two often
chided one another on their Flying abilities and other
rivalries.

This night CDR Mac was returning with a medevac
emergency so emphasis was placed on beaching the PBM
as quickly as possible. Unfortunately there was
an extremely low tide.

The PBM was moored to the buoy. The beaching
crew assisted the aircrew install the beaching gear
and had turned the aircraft into position to tow it up
the seaplane ramp. It was necessary to attach a
rather heavy wire cable to the rear aircraft mooring
attachment, after which the shore end was attached to
a caterpillar tractor capable of pulling the 30-ton
aircraft out of the water and up the seaplane ramp.

Ashore, the beaching chief ACMM Seager was busy
talking with CDR R. R. Johnson who had come to
"supervise" CDR Mac's beaching. We, the
students, were having difficulty standing on the very
slippery ramp in seaweed growth exposed by the low
tide, trying to attach the wire cable.

The crew member on the caterpillar, AMM1 Griffy,
yelled to Chief Seeger asking if he was far enough
down the ramp.

Chief Seager yelled back, "I'll tell you when it's
far enough."

When AMM1 Griffy next called, "Hey, Chief, is this
far enough?", he was up to his neck in water at the
end of the seaplane ramp, large amounts of bubbles
pouring up from a completely submerged caterpillar
tractor! Everything had slid down the slippery
ramp, narrowly missing the students who were trying to
attach the wire cable to the tractor.

It was now necessary to take the crash boat
alongside the PBM to remove the medico and a very
irritated CDR MacDiarmid. After several hours we
recovered the caterpillar and were finally able to
beach the PBM.

I don't recall CDR Johnson "supervising" any more of
CDR Mac's beachings.